Lou Calabrese is a succesful screenwriter whose boyfriend eloped with his bimbo co-star after she penned the hit movie that made him famous. Visiting the set of her latest action blockbuster, she is disgusted to meet the bimbo's ex; her co-dumpee, Jack Townsend, serial love-rat who once broke her best friend's heart, and star of Copkiller IV, the action blockbuster series she wrote. Jack is not too enthusiastic to see her, either- they clashed when they first met and Jack is convinced that in revenge for changing her first script, Lou makes him bare his ass in every movie she writes, exposes him to hazardous or just plain unpleasant stunts, sets the films in extreme enviroments, or insists on close contact with dangerous animals. Hence ending up taking a helicopter ride together in a blizzard in Alaska delights neither of them . They are even less delighted when the pilot suddenly announces his plan to kill Jack, and dispose of Lou as the only witness. Narrowly avoiding grim death, they find themselves stranded in the icy Alaskan wilderness, persued by unkown persons with lethal intentions, in a fight for survival that pushes them to the limits. They eventually discover who wants them dead, of course, but along the way they make some other, pretty startling discoveries; they like each other,they have a lot in common, they are wildly attracted to each other, and now they have another problem- what do they do about it?
What makes this book special is not the plot, which is competently drawn though not exactly earth-shattering. It's the writing style-here is the kind of snappy ,witty dialogue that you see in Nora Roberts or Jennifer Crusie at their best,that had me snorting with laughter at 1am because I couldn't put it down. There are also some very down to earth observations about what it's like to date a man prettier and more famous than you are. I liked the down to earth realism of Lou, and was suprised at how much I ended up liking Jack, who definitely does some growing as the book develops.
I note that Meggin has only written one other book, The Boy Next Door. I plan to read it immediately, and shall keep an eye out for her next- this is definitely a writer to watch.
